Avid's QuickTime codec allows you to export media for use in third party QuickTime–savvy programs for compositing, effects, rotoscoping, and low-bandwidth compression for multimedia. Avid has designed the codec to export and import quickly, as fast as four times the real playlength of the source material. For example: A thirty second clip will take about two minutes to import or export. This marks a vast improvement over other QuickTime options such as Animation, Apple Video, and No Compression, which can take as long as thirty minutes for a thirty second clip.
In addition to speed, the Avid codec sports other advantages. Since it functions primarily as a go-between translator of native Avid media for QuickTime, import and export activity adds no additional JPEG compression to the image. During export, the Composer creates a QuickTime MooV that is essentially the exact same information as an Avid Mediafile. It merely adds hooks for QuickTime to recognize and translate the media without adding a JPEG generation. This means that programs such as After Effects get to work with first generation Avid media.
The Avid codec also allows third party programs to render QuickTime MooV's that import back into the Avid quickly, and without adding another JPEG generation. Your final Digital Cut will represent only a second generation of JPEG.
In addition, since most Avid AVR's represent the best possible compromise between spatial requirements and image quality, file sizes are dramatically smaller than other QuickTime options, such Animation or No Compression. Anyone who's tried to work with a two minute long Animation codec QuickTime MooV at Maximum quality will appreciate dealing in megabytes instead of gigabytes. The codec will even work on other CPU's that do not contain the Media Composer software and hardware, so you don't need to tie up your Avid for long renders.
Warning: The Avid codec will clip any luminance information that is above 100% IRE to white, and compress any information below 7.5% IRE to black.
Be sure to only export media that has been digitized with NTSC or PAL legal settings on the Input Tool, or you're liable to see a shift when you re-import your finished renders. The ABVB card can digitize the full range of video information from 0% to 110% IRE, so watch your waveform and vectorscope carefully when digitizing.
For instance, the highlights on the guitar in the Source Window illustration below were carefully limited to 100% IRE, and no shadow detail was allowed to drop below 7.5%.
There are several areas in Media Composer from which you can export QuickTime MooV's.
The Source Window allows you to pull up individual clips and export whole takes, as they were digitized.
The Timeline Window allows you to export fully edited Sequences with effects, transitions, and multiple shots.
Warning (for MC version 6.0 and 6.1): The Mark In and Mark Out commands do not have any apparent effect on the range of media that gets exported into a QuickTime file. Thus, it is not currently possible to export a user specified range of either an individual clip or a Sequence. Basically, you get the whole thing, regardless of where your In and Out points are set.
If the exact length of an exported clip is critical, create a new Sequence, drop your shot into the Timeline, and trim to the exact duration you need. Do not export anything with critical timing from the Source window, unless for some reason you've frame accurately digitized exactly the media you want, with no handles.
Warning: In addition, you need to be wary of an annoying software glitch that can arbitrarily set the wrong In point. Make sure you hit the Home key right before you export, or the Composer will start exporting from the last point where the blue cursor was parked.
For example, if you've just viewed a 15 second clip, and the cursor is parked 1 second from the end, your exported MooV will be 1 second in duration, and start 14 seconds into the clip. I really hope this is fixed in version 6.5. Always make sure the cursor is at the starting frame of the clip.
To export from the Source Window, be certain that it is active (the timeline field should be light gray, as above) rather than a Bin, the Program Window, etc. Remember to park the cursor at the top of the clip by hitting the Home key.
Likewise, if you're exporting from a Sequence, make sure that you've got the Timeline highlighted (the long horizontal bar at its top will turn purple, as above.) Be sure to park the blue cursor at the top of the sequence by hitting the Home key. Select all of the tracks you'd like to export.
Note: Remember that the Composer will export everything in the Timeline, regardless of where your In and Out points have been set. If you want to export only part of an edited Sequence, create a new Sequence, and lay in only the portion of the original Sequence that you want for export.
Use this dialog to specify QuickTime as the export format. You can select either video only or audio only if you don't want both. Be sure check the Export Full Frame box to export both fields of two field resolutions.
Make sure that you've got plenty of space on the destination volume that you designate for the exported MooV.
After designating the destination volume, The QuickTime Export window will pop up. Set it up as shown above. In early 6.x versions of Media Composer, the destination size defaults to 720 x 540, which will not export quickly. Accelerated export will only work for 720 x 486 pixel MooV's.
The Frames Per Second and Quality settings should not have any effect, but you must choose the "Media Composer" QuickTime codec from the Compressor pop-up. The Avid codec will automatically set itself to your media's AVR.
You are now ready to export your media. When you hit the OK button, expect the export to take about four times longer than the run time of your clip or sequence.